Air conditioner



D. L. BRAINE AIR CONDITIONER Aug. 13, 1935.

3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 30, 1933 INVENTOR DAN/ELLfiEA/NE.

BY f; 9W ATTORNEYS D. L, BRAINE AIR CONDITIONER Aug. 13, 1935.

3 Shets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 30, 1933 INVENTOR DAN/El. L. EBA/NA.

ffih ATTORNEYS Aug. 13, 1935. D. L. BRAINE 2,010,809

AIR CONDITIONER Filed Dec. 30, 1933 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR DAN/ELL..5Bfl/N.

ATTO RN E Y5 Patented Aug. 13, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Myinvention relates to. air conditioners and particularly to an airconditioner that may be set into a window opening.

The present application is a continuation in part of co-pendingapplication Serial No. 663,932 filed April 1, 1933.

Objects of my invention are to provide an air conditioner by which airmay be drawn from outside a building, filtered, mixed inselectedproportion with air from the interior of the building and distributedinto a room or building in a selected path; to provide an airconditioner that may be set into a window opening; to provide a maximumconditioning effect for a minimum opening of the window, and to providea conditioner having few parts and that may be easily removed, takenapart and re-assembled.

Other objects of the invention will appear from the followingdescription.

The various features of the invention are illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is a vertical elevation of anair conditioner embodying a preferred form of the invention taken fromthe interior side of the air conditioner.

Fig. 2 is a vertical elevation taken from the opposite or outside of theair conditioner.

Fig. 3 is a side view showing the position of the air conditioner in awindow opening, the window and sill being shown in broken lines.-

Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of a portion of the filteringdevice.

-- Fig. 5 is a vertical section of the air conditioner taken on line 5-5of Fig. 1 and onfa somewhat larger scale.

Fig.6isaverticalsectionofapartoftheair conditioner taken on line 6-0 ofFig. 1.

Fig. 7 is a vertical sectional view of the air I conditioner taken online 1-1 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 8 is a sectional detail view of a part of the air conditioner takenon line 8-8 of Fig. 7, and

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of a shut-elf orocntrol curtain forminga,part of the air conditioner.

In my invention the air conditioner is provided with a removable filterthrough which the outside air is drawn by means of a fan, and withdampers which admit air from the interior to mix with the filteredoutside air and then tobe distributed by the fan to the interior of theroom, The amount of outside air drawn through the apparatus iscontrolled by means of a shut-01f curtain actuated by thedampers so asto restrict the inflow of outside air progressively as the dampers areopened.

The entire apparatus is mounted in-acaslng or fixed louvre plates I 2,the size and number of 10 the openings being so selected as to provide auniform distribution of air throughout the width and heighth of thechamber. A vertical filter I! of glass, wool or other fibrous materialcoated with a sticky material such as petrolatum, is supported betweenguiding grooves l4 and IS in the top and bottom of the chamber and soplaced that the air admitted through the openings ll passes transverselythrough the filter toward the front or interior side of the chamber.through the filter IS, the air is drawn by means of a fan It, Figs. 1and 6, mounted on the inner surface of the front wall l8 of a front'orinterior member IS, the fan It directing the air through an outletopening in the wall l8. The wall It is also provided with a. pair ofinlet dampers 2|, one on each side of the fan It and outlet opening II,and tiltable about a horizontal axis 2 I to open and close suitableinlet openings in the wall l8.

Air from the interior of the room to be con- 80 ditioned may be drawnthrough the damper openings by the suction created by the fan 16 and,mixing with the outer air, is returned by the fan Ii into the interiorof the room. The front or room side of the chamber III is provided witha 85 receiving groove 22 to receive the upper edge of the wall It andthe upper edge of the latter is rounded as at 23 to fit the groove 22and permit a motion relative thereto.

The member is is supported against the groove 22 and sealed in thechamber H) by means of a sealing strip 24 of rubber or other flexibleresilient material set into a recess 25 in the bottom and side walls ofthe chamber l0 and pressing resiliently against a bottom wall 26 andside walls 21 of the member l9 so as to form an air tight seal aroundthe bottom and side walls of the member 1!, while permitting the latterto swing freely about the groove 22. This arrangement also providesagainst vibration and noise.

Die swinging movement of the member I9 is limited by pins 30, oneprojecting from each of the side walls of the box ill to contact withthe rear edge of the side walls 21 when the member I9 is swungbackwardly into the box l0, and to contact After passing 20 with a hook3| extending from the edge of the side wall 21 to engage the pin 30 whenthe member I9 is drawn forwardly or outwardly of the box It]. Byremoving the pins 30 the member It! may be drawn forwardly untilits rearedge clears the front edge of the box It) and then it may be lowered tofree the upper edge-23 from the groove 22. The interior of the box i isthen freely open for inspection or repair and the rear of the frontmember I9 is also-open for inspection and repair.

As the member 9 is tilted about the edge 23, the fan It iscorrespondingly tilted and the current of air propelled by the fannormalto the front face of the member I9 is tilted. upwardly to a greater orless angle with the tilting of the member l9. The air propelled by thefan l6 may consist entirely of air drawn from the room for recirculationtherein, or may be air drawn entirely from the outer atmosphere throughthe filter '.|3, or may be mixtures of air from these two sources in anydesired proportion. When the dampers 2| are closed, all of the airsupplied by the -fan|6 will enter through the-inlets H, pass through thefilter |3 into the interior of thebox l0 and then be propelled by thefan l6. When it is desired to recirculate only the air within the roomwithout an admixture of air drawn through the filter I3, the dampers 2|are opened wide until theygeach a horizontal position. In moving to thisposition the dampers serve, through a link 32 connected at one end tothe lower'part of the dampers, to swing the scoop 33 having supportingarms 34 connected to the'link' 32 andpivoted .at their upper ends onpivotpins 35 on the side dotted lines in Fig. 5, thecurtain 36 isstretched upwardly from the plate 31 at thelower edge of the filter l3and forms, with the scoop 33, a barrier to the passage of air forwardlyfrom the filter l3.

It will be understood, of course, that the curtain 36 together with thescoop 33 may not necessarily form an air tight closure with the side andtop walls of the box l0, but will form a substantial obstacle to anyconsiderable passagevof outside air to the fan l6. The curtain 36 may beformed of any suitable material such as canvas or other fabric or, ifdesired, of flexible metal construction or of flexible compositionmaterial.

When the damper 2| is moved ,to closed position, the scoop 33 is drawnforwardly by the link 32 until it overlies the lower wall 26 of themember IS, the front part of the curtain being drawn between the loweredge of the scoop 33 and the upper face of the wall 26 so as to form afluid tight against the lower wall of the box In although,

preferably, it will take this position when the member [9 is tiltedoutwardly to its maximum position. When tilted backwardly or into thebox II], the curtain 36 will bulge upwardly slightly,

as indicated in Fig. 5, but this will not form any substantial obstacleto the passage of air.

The connection between the link 32 and the arms 34 is by means of pins38, one on each arm' means such as the arms 48 (Fig. 6).

may be operated and controlled through an elec- 34, passing through aslot 39 on the link 32 so that the damper 2| may be swung from closed tovertical. position, indicated in broken lines in Fig. 5, before thefront edge of the slot 39 engages the pin to tilt the scoop. Thisenables the damper 2| to be opened somewhat without closing the curtain.Further opening of the damper 2| serves to proportionately close thecurtain and proportion the inside and outside recirculating air.

The filters |3 are preferably of a replaceable type and are insertedthrough an opening in the side wall of the box ll), which opening isprovided with a door or cover 40 shown in Fig. 4. This door isformed ofa solid plate or sheet of metal and has vertical flanges 4| to fit intovertical grooves at each side of the filter opening, and a top flange 42fitting into a top groove in the box. This provides a substantially airtight closure. When the filter I3 is removed from the box lo the curtainholding plate 31 is freed and may be removed with the curtain when thefront member I9 is removed.

As illustrated in Fig. 3, the box l0 may be held on a window sill 43 bythe engagement of a window 44 in a receiving groove 45 (Fig. in theupper or top wall of the box It). An adjustable foot 46 is provided tosupport the box on a window sill of any shape or pitch. Adjustable orreplaceable side members 41 are also provided on the box In to enable itto fit windows of difierent widths.

It will be noted that the box l0 and the member H! are of about thewidth of the window sill and that the lower edge of the sash fits intothe narrowest part of the box In so that all of the window opening areais free and available for the passage of air, while the box I0 mayextend upwardly to the upper edge of the frame portion of the windowgiving a maximum area of flow through the filter l3 without obstructingany of' the light area of the window.

It will be understood that the fan l6 will be preferably of a noiselesstype mounted on the front Wall of the member I!) by any suitable The fantrio switch 49 mounted on the. front wall of the member I9.

Through the above invention, therefore, an air conditioner is providedthat may be readily placed in the opening of a window Withoutobstructing the light, and this air conditioner efiectively purifiesincoming air and tempers it with recirculating air in any desiredproportion. The various elements of the invention are simple inconstruction and may be readily taken apart so as to give access to theinterior of the apparatus for replacement or repair.

What I claim is 1. An air conditioner comprising a chamber having an airinlet at one side exposed to the having an air inlet at one side exposedto the ex- .exterior, and an air outlet and inlet at its oppoandan airoutlet in. inletat is opposite sideopening-toaspacetobesirconditioned,a-

damper in saidlatter inlet, a flexible curtain Securedat oneedgetoonewallof saidchamber and having its opposite edge movablefrom'said wall toward another of said chamber to intercept the flow .ofair therethreugh, and means actuated by said damper to move said curtainto intercepting position as said damper is opened and to return it tonon-intercepting position when said damper is moved toward closedposition, said means having a lost motion to permit partial opening ofsaid damper without moving said curtain.

3. An air conditioner comprising a chamber having an air inlet at a sideexposed to the atmosphere and an air outlet and an inlet at an oppositeside to deliver air to the interior of a space to be air conditioned, adamper in said latter in-' let, a swinging scoop, and acurtain securedat one end to said scoop and at the opposite end to a wall of saidchamber to intercept the passage of air from said exterior inlet to saidoutlet when swimg to one position, and to permit passage of "air throughsaid chamber when swung to the op-v posite position, and means actuatedby said inlet damper to swing said scoop.

4.. An air conditioner comprising a chamber having an air inlet at oneside exposed to the exterior, and an air outlet and inlet at itsopposite side opening to a space to be air conditioned, a damper in saidlatter inlet, aflexible curtain secured at one edge to one wall ofsaidchamber and having its opposite edge movable from said wall towardanother of said chamber to'intercept the flow of air there-through,means actuated by said damper to move said curtain to interceptingposition as said damper is opened and to return it to non-interceptingposition when said damper.

is moved toward closed position, and'a fan in said outlet.

5. An air conditioner comprising a chamber having an air inlet at a sideexposed to the outer atmosphere, and an air outlet and a pair of inlets,one on each side of said outlet at the side of said chamber exposed toan interior atmosphere, dampers, one in each of said latter inlets,

and a curtain movable to aposition intercepting Passage between saidinlet from the outer atmosphere to said outlet when said inlet'dampersare swung from closed toward o n. 6. An air conditioner comprisingchamber having at one side an inlet for outside air and at the oppositeside an an outlet, a propelling fan insaid outlet and a pair of airinlets, one on each side of said outlet, dampers in said latter inlets,

. a scoop pivoted to the side walls of said chamber to swing from thebase thereof upwardly, toward the top, a flexible curtain secured at oneend to the lowerpart of said chamber and at the opposite end to' saidscoop to extend upwardly transversel'y-of'said chamber as said scoop isswung upwardiy, an air' fllter between said curtain and the firstmentioned inlet, and links between said .dampersandsaidseooptoswing'said scoopupwardlywhensaiddampersaremovedtoopen position,-

3 7. an air conditioner comprising a chamber having lower and side-wslls and an open front and having a recess in its upper wall atsaid'open front, a front member having side and lower walls and havingitsupper edge engaged in said recess,

and a flexible sealing member in the lower and side walls of saidchamber bearing against and sealing the side and lower walls of saidfront member and holding it in said recess.

8. An air conditioner comprising a chamber having lower and side wallsand an open front and having a recess in its upper wall at said openfront, a front member having side and lower walls and having its upperedge engaged in said recess, a flexible sealing member in the lower andside walls of said chamber bearing against and sealing the side andlower walls of said front member and holding it in said recess, said"chamber having an inlet in the side opposite said open side, a filternear said inlet, said front member having an inlet and an outlet, adamper in said latter inlet, said chamber having a flexible curtainmovable to intercept the passage of air from said filter to said frontmember, and means to move said curtain to intercepting position whensaid damper is open.

9. An air conditioner comprising a chamber having lower and side wallsand an open front and having arecess in its upper wall at said openfront, a front member having side and lower walls and havingits upperedge engaged in said recess,

a flexible sealing member in the lower and side walls of said chamberbearing against and sealing the side and lower walls of said frontmember and holding it-in said recess, said chamber having an inlet inthe side opposite said open side,- a filter near said inlet, said frontmember having an inlet and an outlet, a damper in said latter inlet,said chamber having a flexible curtain movable to intercept the passageof air from said'fllter to said front membenand a link for moving saidcurtain to intercepting position when said damper is open. I

10. Anair conditioner comprising a chamber having an air inlet at'anexterior side and air outlet and inlet at its opposite interior side,means within said chamber havingone edge secured to a wall of saidchamber and extensible from said wall to the opposite wall of saidchamber to.

sage between said air inlet at one side and the air outlet at theopposite side of said chamber, a damper in the inlet at the interiorside and means actuated by the opening of said damper to extend saidmeans across the passage between said exterior and interior inlet.

DANIEL L. 3m.

